When you want to record one of those absolutely devastating country music tearjerkers that holds back nothing and mercilessly goes to work on the audience’s emotional receptors, the songbook of Erin Enderlin is where you turn. Now she’s more posed than ever to emerge from the songwriting shadows.
Ahead of the telecast portion of the 59th Annual Grammy Awards Sunday night (2-12), pre-telecast awards were handed out in a host of categories covering country, Americana, bluegrass, and roots, including big awards like Best Country Song, Best Country Album, and Best Americana Album. Sturgill Simpson won Best Country Album.
The nominees for the 50th Annual CMA Awards have been announced, and Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, and newcomer Maren Morris lead the field each with five nominations. Stapleton continues to be the big surprise, picking up a nomination for the evening’s biggest prize, Entertainer of the Year, and four other nominations.
Sturgill Simpson is currently in the running and being voted on by members of the Country Music Association for three of the 50th Anniversary presentation’s biggest prizes. Also surprising since she’s not on a major label, Margo Price has made the top 20 females being considered for Female Vocalist of the Year.
Chris Stapleton is absolutely blowing the doors off the competition when it comes to country album sales in 2016, and it’s not even close. His debut Traveller is lapping the competition, while the only album that can keep up is Joey + Rory’s gospel record Hymns which is in 2nd place.
To Joey, With Love that is set to air at select theaters on Tuesday, September 20th for one night only. Rory announced the film on the latest installment of his This Life I Live blog, which he uses to regularly keep the world updated on the tragic story of his wife and singing partner Joey Martin Feek.
Usually it’s only once or twice a year that music media is faced with the dilemma of how to adequately and respectfully cover the passing of a high profile music celebrity. In 2016, it has been more like once or twice a month. In fact the frequency of seismic music deaths has been a story unto itself.
Joey Feek was first diagnosed with cervical Cancer in June of 2014, shortly after the birth of the couple’s daughter, Indiana, who was born with Down Syndrome. Feek underwent surgery and numerous treatments, but the Cancer continued to return. But Joey and Rory’s faith never wavered, despite their story unfolding like a tragedy whose every next turn became more unbelievable and tragic.
“It is difficult for me to write this, partly because it seems like everything I write these days ends up as some tragic news story about my wife and her ‘last days’ and the ‘shocking’ new development that has just been shared,” Rory said in his post. “I want to apologize for any sensational headlines that this or any post has created. That has not been my intention.”
Despite losing last week at the Grammy Awards, despite numerous winners and performers in country music receiving Grammy bumps for their efforts, it isn’t Little Big Town or Chris Stapleton walking away with the #1 album in country this week, it is a traditional country duo recording traditional hymns that takes the week’s top spot.
When Joey Martin Feek of the country duo Joey + Rory received a terminal diagnosis for her abdominal Cancer in October, the last thing she was thinking about was the prospects of her country music career. The duo had already won an ACM Award and been nominated for other industry recognition in the past, but all of that took a back seat to the realities facing Feek … until music gave her yet another reason to continue living.
Joey Feek admits she was naive about the business, and didn’t know what she was getting into. But like so many young artists, she was excited about starting her career, and willing to do whatever she could to land a major label deal and keep it. She put herself in the hands of the Sony staff, and hoped for the best.
It was a busy year in country music, with lots of controversy, lots of legal issues, and even death surrounding country music artists. It was a tumultuous 2015 to say the least. Here are the top news stories of the year taking into consideration 1) Their importance to country music overall 2) The interest, or accumulated interest in the story if covered in multiple articles, based on traffic registered at Saving Country Music.
On November 12th, an employee of the Ryman Auditorium’s recently-opened Café Lula named Kimber Engstrom was fired after she attempted to set up a prayer vigil in the historic concert venue for the ailing Joey Feek of the singing duo Joey + Rory. Now Ryman management is saying they were too harsh on Kimber Engstrom, and even offered to rehire her.
Kimber Engstrom, an employee of the Ryman Auditorium’s recently-opened Café Lula, has been fired after she attempted to set up a prayer vigil in the Country Music Mother Church for Joey Feek of the singing duo Joey + Rory. Joey Feek was diagnosed with abdominal Cancer in 2014, and is currently in hospice care after receiving a terminal diagnosis from doctors in late October and deciding to cease treatment.
Joey Feek of the country duo Joey + Rory is in the final stages of life after receiving a terminal diagnosis following surgery and treatment for Cancer, and her husband and singing partner Rory has asked for a moment of prayer on Thursday evening (11-5) at 8:00 p.m. Central from fans, friends, family, and concerned individuals.
This was the heartbreaking, devastating news that fans and followers of the traditional country and bluegrass duo Joey + Rory, and people beyond the music community who had been following their tragic story woke up to on Friday morning (10-23). Joey Feek—the wife of Rory Lee Feek, and mother of one-year-old Indiana Feek, is ending her battle with stage IV colorectal cancer.
It’s hard to believe it has been six years and over 100 episodes since the RFD-TV music show first came on the air, but since its debut it has risen right up there with The Marty Stuart Show, Music City Roots, and a select few others for places to go searching for the talent that still embodies the true spirit of country music, and hasn’t forgotten about all the greats still around singing and playing country the way it was intended to be.
No matter what happens with country music in the mainstream, there will always be musicians that will pick up the cause of preserving country’s traditional modes and make sure they never die. Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, it was the unlikely champion of punk musicians that rose to the occasion and started releasing old-school country albums and launching country side projects.
So we haven’t even had time since the 56th Grammy Awards to sort out if Madonna had the authority to preside over a mass wedding, or if Pharrell’s hat was indeed copyright infringement against the Arby’s logo, and here only a few days later we’re asked to crunch a fresh batch of data dealing with the nominees for the 2014 ACM Awards on April 6th.
It’s so easy to get swept up in stereotyping mainstream country as being completely void of anything worth your time these days, but in truth there’s still a lot of great music in the popular music world, however a small percentage it might be of the total package. Saying the mainstream has nothing good to offer is narrowing your musical experience no different than saying that music is bad because it’s not popular.